Imperials Have More Fun
by Moomkin
Summary: Thrawn and Eli Vanto are the bestie best of friends and these are a series of one-shots about their adventures across the galaxy.
1. Thrawn's Birthday

Thrawn's Birthday

In which Eli decides Thrawn needs to have a birthday.

* * *

It was a horribly forced affair.

Eli didn't want to be there, but as an ensign, it was expected that he'd attend. There was that whole unwritten law about an officer's code, and part of it meant that when one officer had a birthday, all the others would show up as a sign of solidarity.

It wasn't as though Eli didn't like Captain Virgilio. The commander of the _Blood Crow_ wasn't as annoying as he _could_ have been. Even if he had initially been a little wary of Lieutenant Thrawn – an alien who by all accounts shouldn't have even been in the Imperial Navy – Captain Virgilio had eventually warmed up to him.

It didn't hurt that Thrawn never complained and did everything he was tasked to do efficiently. Eli was sure it was the only reason Captain Virgilio never openly resisted the idea of the alien lieutenant having an aide. Any one who had spent any amount of time with Thrawn knew that his excuse of needing Eli as a translator was borderline ridiculous.

At a birthday party, though, Eli's role as an explainer of human culture was put on display for everyone to see.

"Ensign Vanto," Thrawn said, Eli assuming he was trying to be as discreet as possible but failing. "What is the purpose of the candles?"

"I don't know," Eli grumbled, wishing he could offer a better explanation. It wasn't like he had any sort of education in the cultural anthropology of galactic humans. "It's just… something people do."

Hardly a minute passed when Thrawn asked again, "Ensign Vanto, why do humans celebrate their birthdays with sweets."

"Because sweets make people happy," Eli mumbled.

"They are not very good for you," Thrawn pointed out.

"All the more reason to like them," Eli said.

Thrawn was silent for a moment and then, as expected, asked, "Explain."

It went on like that for hours.

Eli just wanted to go back to his cabin. Every time Thrawn opened his mouth, Eli could feel the room go a little silent, as if all the other officers were waiting to hear what kind of ridiculous question the Chiss was about to ask. And a few times, there were a couple of officers who couldn't hide their snickering. When it was finally over, Eli collapsed in his bunk, wishing he could have thought of an excuse to not have shown up in the first place.

"That was… interesting," Thrawn said. Eli just groaned in response. Quite possibly everything in the galaxy was interesting according to his roommate.

"Don't they celebrate birthdays on your world?" Eli grumbled, his face still smushed into his pillow.

"We do," Thrawn said. And in typical Thrawn-style, he didn't elaborate.

But Eli picked up that reminiscing on his home had put Thrawn in a withdrawn mood. It lasted for the rest of the night. Eli mentally scolded himself for being so cold – all the stories he knew of the Chiss spoke of their undying loyalty to one another. To be exiled… must have been painful to keep being reminded of.

So next time they had leave, Eli made sure he'd fix that.

"Well, I was going to wait but…" Eli said when they'd made it back aboard the _Blood Crow_ , offering Thrawn a small, plain package wrapped in brown paper.

Thrawn took it skeptically.

"Happy birthday," he said, and when Thrawn just stared at him blankly, elaborated. "I figured you'd have no idea when your birthday was in this galaxy, since the Chiss calendar had got to be different from ours. And… this happens to be the one year anniversary of when we found you and brought you into the Empire. So…"

Thrawn opened the package slowly, Eli wondering if exchanging presents was a completely foreign concept to him. He'd only just then remembered that during Captain Virgilio's party there hadn't been much in the way of a gift exchange.

"That's something else we do," Eli stammered quickly. "We exchange gifts."

And when Thrawn saw his present? There was the faintest hint of a smile. It was a box of colored wax sticks.

"You know… because you like art so much," Eli explained.

"Thank you, Eli," Thrawn said.

Eli smiled – it was one of the rare moments when Thrawn actually addressed him by his first name.

"You're welcome," he said.

Eli couldn't refuse the Chiss's offer to draw a picture, even if he felt a quick stab of panic at the very thought of it. Him? Draw? But Thrawn had been so obviously touched by the gesture that he found himself sitting at his desk, biting his tongue, trying to draw. It was horrible, but oddly kind of fun at the same time.

"I think I see why people like doing this," he murmured.

An hour later, and Thrawn was showing off his drawing. It made Eli's stomach sink.

"HOW?" he stammered.

Thrawn had drawn a completely accurate and insanely detailed star destroyer. With… colored wax sticks.

Eli suddenly didn't want to share his at all, but he did. He could feel his face grow warm with shame. His art was an absolute disaster compared to Thrawn's.

"Ensign Vanto," Thrawn said. "Can you explain what this is?"

Of course. It was so bad that even art-savvy Thrawn couldn't figure it out.

"It's… us," Eli said lamely. "That blob is me, and that blob is you, and … well, I tried. I told you I'm not very good at this."

"And you wrote 'happy birthday Thrawn'" Thrawn pointed out.

"Yeah…" Eli said, wishing he'd thought of something like a star destroyer.

"I appreciate it," Thrawn said, taking it from Eli, with a look of complete amazement on his face. "I'm going to keep it with me," he went on, folding it up and making a motion to put it in his pocket.

"You don't have to humor me," Eli said with a nervous laugh.

But Thrawn looked up, almost… with a hurt expression.

"Is it not proper to keep it with me?" Thrawn asked.

"No… it's just…" Eli stammered, glancing away and running a hand through his hair. "It's a _bad_ drawing, you don't have to pretend like it's good or anything. You know, you're not going to hurt my feelings."

"But _you_ drew it," Thrawn said. He looked over at the worn down wax sticks, gesturing to them, "This was an acceptable gift, but this," he looked down at the drawing he was holding, "This was something you made. It means more to me."

Eli sighed in resignation. "Well, happy birthday, Thrawn."

Thrawn smiled.

* * *

SORRY BUT THRAWN AND ELI COLORING WITH CRAYONS TOGETHER IS THE BEST IDEA EVER DON'T TELL ME IT ISN'T.


	2. Freckles

Freckles

In which Thrawn asks Eli a lot of questions about why humans look like they look.

Also – totally influenced by the freckly af drawings of Eli Vanto, courtesy of the ever amazing talented captainmazzic

* * *

Eli Vanto couldn't focus. He'd been trying to finish up his assignments – the workload at the Royal Imperial Academy was a lot more than what he'd been used to. And yet he couldn't focus. As subtly as he could, he glanced out the corner of his eye… _Yup_. Once again, his roommate was staring at him.

Eli didn't even _need_ to ask if Thrawn had finished with his assignments. Of course, he had. And he was probably working on something else, just as mentally demanding as any of his regular assignments, and would probably be just as successful with them.

"Cadet Vanto," Thrawn said, causing Eli to sigh. _Here it comes._

"Yeah?" he said, turning to face the Chiss.

"I wonder if I could ask you a question?" Thrawn asked.

Eli scowled, purposefully placing his datapad on his desk as obviously as he could. Why he bothered, he had no idea. Thrawn wouldn't have a clue that he needed to do his assignments unless he spelled it out. And even that wasn't entirely certain.

"You already asked me one," Eli said, smiling a little, because the momentary puzzled look which crossed his roommate's face was worth it.

"Then another one," Thrawn corrected himself.

"Yeah, okay, shoot," Eli said. As insufferably annoying as his roommate could be, Eli could never stay angry with Thrawn. There was something endearing about his endless curiosity.

"Why are you the only human on this planet with spots?" Thrawn asked simply, absolutely lacking any kind of tact. Or the situational awareness to realize that such a question might need tact.

Eli's face slowly melt into a cold glower.

"They're called freckles," he stated distantly, turning back to his datapad. "Not spots."

"Freckles," Thrawn repeated, trying out the word, then taking note of Eli's behavior. "Is this a difficult subject to talk about?"

Eli sighed, and turned back around. He couldn't blame Thrawn for being… well, Thrawn.

"Just… don't call them spots," he said. "That makes me feel like I'm some kind of animal."

"Does your culture hold some kind of negative view on freckles?" Thrawn asked.

"What?" Eli was surprised. "No… it's just… people… kind of find them funny. They make jokes about it."

"I see," Thrawn said. "Was I not supposed to have noticed?"

"No, not exactly," Eli groaned. "I mean, _everyone_ notices. It's just another thing for them to laugh at. Wild Space accent. _Spots_."

"Freckles," Thrawn corrected innocently.

Eli couldn't hold back a laugh.

"Right," he said. "Freckles."

"I find them intriguing," Thrawn said.

"Oh," Eli said stupidly.

 _Thank goodness he'd said that when we were alone._

All the times he'd told Thrawn what was polite or impolite in the galactical society… how many times they'd gotten in trouble when the alien had opened his stupid mouth to loudly make a casual remark that was definitely _not_ polite… at least sometimes Thrawn had the wherewithal to say things about _him_ in private. Eli couldn't even imagine how embarrassed he'd be if Thrawn had mentioned his fascination with Eli's freckles when they were around the other cadets.

"Was that not appropriate?" Thrawn asked suddenly. Eli winced. Sometimes Thrawn was utterly clueless about what triggered discomfort… other times he noticed right away.

"I don't know why you find me so interesting," Eli said.

Thrawn frowned for a moment, then asked, "Should I stop?"

"I've told you before, you can ask me anything you want," Eli said, then his face reddened in embarrassment over his reaction. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

"But you've given me something else to ask," Thrawn said. Eli felt his face get redder. What had he done now?

"Why do humans possess an ability to display their feelings of discomfort?" Thrawn asked.

"W-what?" Eli stumbled. That made absolutely no sense to him.

"Your face is warm," Thrawn observed. "There is an increased blood flow to your cheeks, causing them to change color. This is a response to you apologizing. Why do humans make their discomfort visible? What purpose does this serve?"

Eli's jaw dropped a little, and then laughed nervously. And then winced, because he could feel his face get hotter. Being the subject of such direct attention was perhaps something he'd never get over.

"I don't know," Eli said, really trying to figure out a good answer. "I guess… because humans are social creatures… and that when one is embarrassed, it's supposed to cue the others to make that one feel better?"

Eli had no idea if what he said was right _scientifically_ – he'd never felt a need to study anything about his own species. At least his answer made humanity sound nicer than it usually was. The real answer tended to be that when one human noticed anyone one feeling embarrassed, the proper response was to draw other human's attention to their distress and make it worse.

Eli scowled at his internal thought. Humans really were weird.

"And how does a human properly provide comfort to one suffering from embarrassment?" Thrawn asked.

Eli's heart skipped a beat, getting an odd thrill from realizing he was in a position where he could have his roommate do almost anything he wanted. Would it be wrong to suggest the Chiss finish his assignments? Go get him something from the mess hall?

Before he could even suggest it, Eli felt a stab of guilt. That was wrong – manipulating someone so clueless… even if Thrawn was responsible for so much hardship in his life, Eli just couldn't find the heart to even the score.

Eli shrugged, "We do different things. It depends on how bad the offense is. But really, you don't have to do anything. It's not like you did something to be intentionally hurtful. You're just… being yourself."

"And does my being myself cause you discomfort?" Thrawn asked.

Eli just smiled. The answer he wanted to say was "more than you could imagine," but he knew the Chiss would only take that the wrong way.

"You just throw me off guard is all," Eli said. "Now, I've really got to finish my assignments."

He turned back to his datapad before Thrawn could answer. But he was only half committed to his assignments. Half of his mind was waiting… in anticipation.

"Cadet Vanto," Thrawn said only a few minutes later.

Eli smiled again, putting down his datapad.

This time he would find a way to get his roommate to finish his assignments.


	3. Aid

Aid

In which Eli patches Thrawn up after the fight at the Academy

* * *

"You may have told Commandant Deenlark you were okay," Eli said the moment he and Thrawn were back safely in the barracks. "But you're not going to class tomorrow looking like that."

"Why not?" Thrawn asked calmly.

He was quite surprised by Eli's insistence, for he had already stated his views on his injuries. They were minor, and they would heal.

"Because, if you go to your classes looking like that, that'll just show the other cadets that you _can_ get hurt," Eli said. "That came out wrong. Look, word'll probably already be around the Academy before we even wake up tomorrow, but … you don't want to _look_ like you got jumped so badly, okay? It'll make you look weak."

"I believe I've already demonstrated the position I'm in," Thrawn said.

"If you're talking about transferring those two," Eli said. "It's not the same thing. Everyone's going to know you got jumped. No one'll think the risk is worth trying it again if you don't have a mark to show for it."

"And you have a way to do this?" Thrawn asked.

"Yeah, there should be some bacta patches around here somewhere," Eli said.

Each of the dorm rooms had a small emergency medpac, with just the rudiments of simple first aid. A couple of bandages, gloves, some scissors that Eli made a face at when he moved them to the side, and a small package of bacta patches.

"Really, don't they have bacta on your world?" Eli asked, and then made a face, continuing before getting an answer. "Figures. It's expired. Well, I guess this is as good a runner up as any."

He produced a small round container of bacta salve. Again, he made a face.

Thrawn studied him, trying to figure out why Eli was suddenly so conflicted. Guilt? Embarrassment?

"Thank you, Cadet Vanto, I understand," Thrawn decided to spare him whatever struggles he was dealing with. He opened his hand, a gesture made to ask for the container, but Eli tightened his grip on it. The Chiss's eyebrow raised in confusion.

"No, I… you can't see what you're doing anyways," Eli said. Clumsily he unscrewed the top of the salve, got some of the substance on his fingertips, and with a heavy, awkward sigh, raised his hand to Thrawn's cheek.

And suddenly pulled away, as though the contact had hurt him.

"Cadet-?" Thrawn asked, more confused than ever.

"You're… warm!" Eli said.

"This surprises you?" Thrawn asked.

"You're… blue, though," Eli said. "Usually blue things are cold."

"Is that another aspect of human culture?" Thrawn asked.

"Sorry," Eli mumbled, casting his eyes away. Again, Thrawn could detect that sense of conflict. Was it embarrassment again? Humans truly were difficult to figure out.

"Your reaction did not cause any offense," Thrawn explained. "My homeworld is cold. Much colder than this place. Our core body temperatures are high to be able to survive it."

"I guess that makes sense," Eli said, in a self-mocking tone which told Thrawn that the cadet's internal struggle was obviously not over.

"If this is difficult for you-" Thrawn started, to once again offer doing it himself, but again, Eli's grip tightened harder on the container.

"Sorry," Eli said again, wincing once he caught himself repeating his earlier apology. "I didn't- Nevermind."

Again Eli reached up to touch Thrawn's face. Thrawn, for the most part, was trying to do absolutely nothing. He couldn't decide what was bothering his roommate so much, so he decided to try to be as still as possible.

But Thrawn couldn't stop himself from watching Eli's expressions.

His touch was overwhelmingly gentle, almost exaggeratedly so, as if he'd never taken care of a wounded thing in his life and was afraid that Thrawn's injuries had somehow turned him to glass. Thrawn had enough self-mastery to stop himself from flinching. Even if the salve soothed out the pain a moment after being applied, Eli's touch still brought a hiss of pain. Thrawn's attackers hadn't exactly held back.

"Didn't think you had red blood either," Eli said.

"Do humans think aliens lack red blood?" Thrawn asked, confused. "The color of blood is due to the presence of oxygen, reacting to iron. I would believe any alien living on a world with oxygen in the atmosphere would have red blood."

"Oh…" Eli answered, his face reddening in embarrassment again. Thrawn was still trying to figure out why humans would assume any nonhumans would lack red blood. It was simple chemistry. Was this just a false story to tell to dehumanize outsiders?

"That's why your lips are kind of purple," Eli said. "I mean, blue skin, red blood. Makes purple."

"That is color theory," Thrawn affirmed. Eli frowned a little, again a look crossing his face like he did something he shouldn't have. Again, Thrawn was confused.

Eli continued to spread the salve on Thrawn's injuries, the Chiss observing his human nurse closely. Every now and then Eli's eyes would flicker into Thrawn's gaze, and then quickly drop down. And each time Eli caught Thrawn watching him, his face would go red again.

"I could have helped sooner," Eli said. Thrawn watched his expression. Eli's face was warming considerably, his whole body tensing up, like he had said something awful and was waiting for the blow back.

"Do not trouble yourself," Thrawn said. "It is normal to be afraid for one's safety when one is not accustomed to fighting."

"No… I…" Eli said. With considerable effort, he looked into Thrawn's eyes and held his gaze. "There was a moment when I wanted them to hurt you."

Thrawn noticed Eli paused, as though waiting for a response, but Thrawn was completely thrown off guard by the statement.

"It was a stupid thought," Eli said, his eyes darting away, looking to a far off corner where nothing interesting laid. "But once it got in my head, it wouldn't let go. I just thought… I could go back to my old life if you got yourself in such a state and you had to drop out of the Academy."

"I did not know you felt that way," Thrawn said with some considerable effort. "It was not my-"

"I wasn't done," Eli said. "I said that was my first thought. That's all. It came so suddenly I guess I was just dumbfounded by it for a few moments. It was… tantalizing. But it wasn't right. I was afraid, and maybe just trying to make myself feel better about being afraid."

"But you came to my rescue in the end," Thrawn pointed out.

"I just want you to know I'm sorry," Eli said.

"I accept your apology," Thrawn said. "If you wish, I could speak to Commandant Deenlark in the morning and inform him that you have taught me all the Basic you-"

"But I want to stay with you," Eli argued.

Thrawn cocked his head in confusion.

"Maybe you're the reason I couldn't continue my studies on Myonmar," Eli said. "But I'll survive that. You've been teaching me things I never would have learned if I'd stayed there."

"What have I taught you?" Thrawn asked.

"I don't know, small things," Eli said. "The way the others treat you. I never noticed it before. Probably never would have if I wasn't by your side every minute, but it's almost like… I'm experiencing it _as_ you would have. I know a lot of what the others say to you, you don't get, but even if you don't get it, _I_ do. I never noticed how … superior humans think they are.

"But there's more than that. There's the way you don't let anything bother you. Maybe you don't get the slang terms, but you know what getting jumped means. And… you didn't want them to suffer. You wanted them to serve the Empire better. It's like… you don't mind being knocked down, as long as when you get up, everyone stands up taller. It's incredible."

"And this is why you are scared?" Thrawn asked.

"Scared?" Eli asked.

"Your hands were trembling," Thrawn pointed out. "You were forcing yourself to swallow. Your muscles are tensed, even now."

"You… noticed all that?"

"Of course," Thrawn said.

"I wasn't _scared_ ," Eli insisted. "I just didn't want to admit I'd been so selfish. Well, maybe I was a little worried about how you'd react."

"This is why you insisted on applying the salve," Thrawn said. "As a way to apologize."

Eli shrugged, as though juggling how to answer that question.

"No apologies needed," Thrawn said. "From you, one is never needed."


	4. Drunk

Drunk

In which Eli gets too drunk and tries to get Thrawn drunk with him.

Inspired by Lewa Neor, who wanted to read every second of the hours of uncomfortable dialogue between the two during the "Birthday" one shot.

Scene takes place during "Birthday." Go read that one first, it's only 1,000 words anyways. Or just imagine the two are invited to a birthday party and Thrawn keeps asking annoying questions about human birthday party customs.

Also I'm just imaging this as like, a typical Earth birthday party. So probably not canon. But there you go.

* * *

Lieutenant Thrawn was silent for a moment and then, as expected, asked, "Explain."

Eli just wanted to go back to his cabin. Every time Thrawn opened his mouth, Eli could feel the room go a little silent, as if all the other officers were waiting to hear what kind of ridiculous question the Chiss was about to ask. And a few times, there were a couple of officers who couldn't hide their snickering.

It was Eli Vanto's personal hell.

"Ensign Vanto," Thrawn said. Eli turned to find his roommate holding a birthday hat. Eli wanted to bury his face in his hands and cry. "What is the purpose of this hat?"

"It's just a birthday hat," Eli said.

"But this couldn't serve the proper function of a hat," Thrawn said. "It can't protect your head, it wouldn't keep you warm-"

"They're… supposed to be funny," Eli said,

"Is there something humorous about the design?" Thrawn asked. Eli could just imagine the Chiss's analytical mind refusing to believe something could be made solely for the purpose of being silly.

"Not really."

"The design is interesting. The conical shape. What is the meaning-"

"Look, it's just a hat."

"But why wear a hat to a birthday at all?"

"I don't know."

"How do you not understand the significance of your own culture's rituals?"

"I don't know."

And with that, Thrawn's interest in the birthday hat faded. Eli took a deep breath, looking around the room again. Yeah, pretty much every conversation was hushed, eyes kept darting in their direction. _Perfect_.

"Ensign Vanto."

"What is it?" Eli asked, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Before we were served cake," Thrawn pointed out. "And now they're serving this cold-"

"Ice cream," Eli muttered, his eyes shooting daggers at the Chiss, hoping he'd get the hint and just not say anything.

"Is there a reason?"

"No."

"I find it interesting, the juxtaposition. One treat warm, the other cold. And the order in which they were served."

"Stop. Looking. Into. Everything. It's just cake and ice cream."

"What is the significance?"

"It's…" Eli was just struggling to keep it together at this point.

"Why is there no song that accompanies the ice cream?"

"Stop it."

"And there was fire with the cake. Why is there no fire with the ice cream?"

It was all Eli could take.

"That's it. I need a drink," Eli said, turning on his heel and stalking away. Thankfully this was an officer's party. Which meant there was a bar. Unfortunately, Thrawn didn't pick up on Eli's annoyance and followed him.

And even worse, all the other officers had noticed and were whispering comments to one another.

Why couldn't he have thought of an excuse not to show up at all, and let someone else play native to Thrawn's anthropologist?

"Ensign Vanto-"

Eli wasn't even trying to look professional anymore. He just grabbed a bottle of whatever looked like it could get him drunk the fastest, ignored the surprised look from the bar tender, and took a swig.

"Ensign Vanto-"

Eli held up a finger and kept drinking.

"But-"

Eli just kept chugging.

"What-"

Eli could only get through a third of the bottle before his body finally protested. Pulling the bottle away, coughing, Eli waited for the head rush that would signal the start of the beautiful bliss of drunk oblivion.

It didn't.

"Ensign Vanto," Thrawn said.

"Shhhhh…," Eli shushed him, putting a finger up to his lips.

"But-"

"Shhhhhhh," Eli kept shushing him, but moved his finger from his own lips to Thrawn's. And took another swig.

"There we go," Eli said, slamming the bottle down and holding onto his head. Yup. Head rush. Dizziness. But was Thrawn still annoying?

"You. Question. Go," he said, pointing at Thrawn.

Thrawn looked momentarily puzzled by Eli's behavior, opened his mouth to ask a question, and Eli just interrupted him with a laugh.

"Gotta make sure," he explained, taking another shot and laughing.

Thrawn glanced around the room and noticed the looks in their direction. He wasn't sure what to do. There was a bar here… which meant drinking was a perfectly acceptable part of a birthday party. But Eli's behavior was suddenly so irrational.

Not to mention that Thrawn had barely ever seen the young ensign drink before.

"Ensign Vanto," Thrawn tried again. When he wasn't interrupted, he went on, "Are you okay?"

"Yup," Eli said, grinning for the first time the entire night. "Whoa, Thrawn, just wait. Great idea. You need to have a drink too."

"I-" Thrawn started to say, the tone on his voice clearly indicating his refusal. Eli picked up on it.

"No, wait wait wait wait wait," he said. "Hear me out. See. You're asking me all these questions. You know why? Because you're nervous. People do it all the time, it's okay. But listen, you take a shot or two or three or whatever, and you'll totally relax. See. Here I'll get you one."

And Eli tried his best to pour a shot for Thrawn. Most of the liquor ended up on the table, which Eli found unrealistically funny, and then when he managed to fill the shot glass, he forgot who he was pouring it for and drank it instead.

"Why do you ask so many questions, Thrawn?" Eli asked, his face getting red, his eyes glassy. "You know what's a good question? How is it that you're not even part of our galaxy but you had space technology to like… space travel. How is that possible? And why do you look like people? But like, what's the deal with those glowing eyes? How do they work? Like, does everything look red to you? But how would you even _know?_ That's the scary part – how would you know?

"You know what else? I think your planet is full of jerks for exiling you. Ungrateful jerks, Thrawn.

"Thrawn, why aren't you drinking yet?" Eli asked, suddenly extremely offended at finding the Chiss completely sober. "Look, it'll help. You're asking all these questions, you gotta take a shot, it'll calm you down, believe me."

"I don't see the logic in your conclusions," Thrawn said, taking note that Eli had started doing the absolute opposite of what he wanted the Chiss to do.

Eli stared at Thrawn with all due seriousness for a long, drawn out couple of seconds, before his face lit up and he screamed, "WE NEED TO GET YOU DRUNK!"

"Define drunk," Thrawn said, really hoping Eli didn't want him to become as inebriated as he was.

Eli blinked in happy confusion. It was as if Thrawn's question had broken his brain.

"Exactly!" he finally decided.

Thrawn glanced around the room again, which Eli noticed.

"Don't you care about what these guys think, Thrawn, you're an alright guy," he said, loudly. "No one else thinks so, but I do. You're alright."

"Ensign Vanto," Thrawn said. "I think-"

"You know what I'm thinking?" Eli asked. "I'm thinking, 'what kind of drunk would Thrawn be? Like, do you get angry drunk? Or happy drunk? Or are you the kind of guy who'd get love drunk and go around and tell everyone how much he loved them?' Because you're alright, Thrawn. I think you're an alright guy.

"NO!" Eli shouted without warning, and started to jab Thrawn in the chest with every word he said. "You 'aveto 'ave a shot. Itsa birfday parteh, itsa custom-arie thang we do."

"Ensign Vanto, I can't understand what you're saying anymore."

"itsabirdahparte! y'aveto'aveundrin!"

"I…"

"u'vegottarelashalidabitThrawn."

Thrawn was done. He grabbed the bottle out of Eli's hand and looked at the contents regretfully. It was a party after all. Surely 'conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman' didn't apply… right?

At least the liquor tasted good.

"HEY!" Eli shouted in absolutely, unrestrained glee. "Seewhaditellyaitsapartenow."

Thrawn had to agree, even though he had no idea what he was agreeing to.

"udidna'aveenuf," Eli said, wheeling back to the bar and picking out another bottle. The bartender, either because he was terrified of Thrawn's glowing eyes or just didn't want to try and stop them, had retreated to the other end of the bar.

"'ere," Eli said, shoving a random bottle into Thrawn's chest. He momentarily lost balance, holding himself up with the hand pressing against Thrawn.

"thisshitworksfas," he said.

"I certainly hope so," Thrawn said.

Thrawn had no idea what kind of alcohol he'd been given, or what the alcohol content would be like, but he did know that no matter what it was, he was definitely not going to get as drunk as Eli. Thrawn had already figured out that a Chiss's metabolism was a lot faster than a human's, which meant that alcohol meant for a human's body would be out of his system in no time.

Except Thrawn hadn't planned on Eli's insistence on getting him drunk. And after trying to polite turn down drinks, Thrawn finally had to concede defeat and let Eli win.

LATER

"I have to teach you about art, Eli," Thrawn was saying. He and Eli were sitting together on a couch. Thrawn had his arm around Eli's shoulders, and Eli was staring at him as though he were the most interesting thing in the world. And Thrawn couldn't stop smiling.

"You have to start with color theory," he went on. "It's the foundations for everything about art. So, primary colors. Primary colors are red, yellow and blue. You can get every color from those three if you mix them."

"Wow," Eli said. "What, even green?"

"Green is merely a mix of yellow and blue."

"SHUT UP."

"It's true."

"JUST WAIT, I GOT IT. BLUE AND RED MAKE PURPLE."

"That's very insightful-"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE TURNING PURPLE. YOUR FACE," Eli started to smush Thrawn in the face with his clumsy hands."YOUR FACE IS TURNING PURPLE. ARE YOU BLUSHING THRAWN?"

LATER

Eli was holding both sides of Thrawn's face with his hands, his forehead resting against the Chiss's, looking dead straight in his glowing eyes with all seriousness, while screaming, "GIVE ME YOUR POWER, THRAWN!"

LATER

"Don't let anyone tell you anything, Thrawn," Eli said, hand on Thrawn's chest, pointing at his face, and talking to him with his face like two inches apart. "Even if you're not human, you're the best human in my books. Look at 'em all, Thrawn. Look at 'em. They couldna hold a candle to you."

Thrawn sat up suddenly, "That's why! That's why they have candles on birthday cakes!"

"You!" Eli agreed. "You're the candle!"

"Yeah…." Thrawn said, losing his epiphamy.

LATER

Thrawn explained to Eli his plans on how to make the Empire better, but didn't realize he'd been talking in Cheunh for the last fifteen minutes.

LATER

"HAVE ANOTHER SHOT THRAWN," Eli shouted, holding up a shot glass. "THIS IS THE BEST."

Not knowing the bar tender had been serving them both water for the last hour.

LATER

Thrawn was leaning into Eli, struggling to keep his eyes open. And as drunk as he was, he didn't care so much about pushing boundaries as much as resting his head on Eli's shoulder was enough of a rest to keep him awake. But leaning into Eli, who, being so much smaller than the Chiss, meant Eli was slowly sliding down to the seats of the couch they were sitting on. Eli didn't seem to notice.

"You can't stop talking," Eli said, reaching up to pat Thrawn's cheek. "You sound. So. Adorable. With your accent."

"Define accent."

"Exactly. That's what I'm talking about. It's adorable."

"Define adorable."

"I'm getting you drunk every day. Every day, Thrawn. You're not keeping that accent away from me."

Thrawn closed his eyes and passed out, his body slumping over. Eli, momentarily confused as to why he was falling over, tried to grab at the couch but his hands grasped nothing. And once he was laying down, his drunkenness told him to stay down, not having the presence of mind to care whether or not there was a drunken Chiss laying on him.

* * *

Sorry this kind of ended lamely. Maybe I'll have to write a hangover one-shot where the better-at-processing-alcohol Thrawn wakes up just fine and has to take care of his poor hungover aide.


	5. Cold

Cold

In which Eli gets really, really, really, really cold.

This contains some light, fluffly shipping near the end. If you're not on board this ship, stay on shore. (boat puns)

* * *

Eli knew he was going to regret it, but it wasn't like he was forced to tag along. It just seemed like the kind of thing he wouldn't want to miss. Thrawn, actually expressing an emotion that might possibly be… excitement?

With Thrawn it was always hard to tell. Either his species didn't allow for him to get too emotional, or he was conditioned to not show any – Eli had never asked.

Their cruiser was parked in orbit above a world which was unknown, unexplored, and when Eli looked at it out of the viewport, noticeably uninviting. The entire thing was white. Readings showed that, like a large chunk of planets in the galaxy, it had a stable atmosphere, with enough oxygen to support human life, and gravity that mimicked Coruscant.

And Thrawn nearly screamed that he volunteered to go to the surface.

Eli was going as well.

"After all, how could Lieutenant Thrawn go _anywhere_ without his aide?" Captain Rossi had sneered.

Yes, that was true – but Eli was getting used to tagging along by now anyways.

He had a good idea that a world which looked white from space was probably frozen. He'd grown up on Lysatra – a Wild Space planet with a temperature which was anything but. Summers were hot and dry, winters were hot and dry, and pretty much every waking moment of his childhood had steeled his ability to tolerate the heat. Cold? Not at all. Even the generally temperate climate on board a naval vessel left him freezing.

And now he was going along with Thrawn to explore some unknown frozen ice hell.

"Why _did_ you volunteer?" Eli asked his friend the moment they were off the bridge. He had to walk quickly to keep up, Thrawn was nearly running. Thrawn? Run? No, but his professionally-walking-fast was as close as naval officer could get before breaking down into a run.

"Csilla," Thrawn said.

Eli frowned, and struggled to keep up.

In no time, their shuttle was entering the atmosphere of the unknown ice world, buffeted by alien winds. Then they were on the ground. Eli nearly got hit in the face by Thrawn's restraining belt as the Chiss jumped out of his seat the moment the shuttle landed.

"You know, this planet isn't going anywhere," Eli said, though he smiled. He'd never seen Thrawn show so much joy for anything. And he was already planning to never let the Chiss live it down.

Thrawn didn't even bother with their cold weather gear. He just hit the button to drop the ramp, and ran out into the blizzard.

Eli was less enthusiastic. The temperature was well below freezing. He was fairly certain that within a few seconds Thrawn would be running back into the shuttle, call the planet dead, and the mission would be over.

The seconds dragged. No returning bluer-than-normal Chiss.

Eli swore under his breath and ran down to the ramp, peering out into the storm. The sky was dark gray, heavy with clouds. The ground was white, patches of snow and ice as far as the eye could see, with dunes of snow towering in the distance. The wind was blowing at a gale force, and as Eli risked stepping outside, he felt the snow peppering his face.

Peppering was a nice way to put it. It felt more like the wind was made up of needles, needles which sunk into his flesh.

"This kriffing Chiss…" Eli muttered, running back to grab his jacket – he didn't bother with pants or boots or gloves or hat – pulled the hood over his head and ran back to the edge of the ramp.

"THRAWN?" Eli called out, his voice getting lost in the wind.

Nothing.

Heart hammering against his rib cage, Eli took a tentative step out into the storm.

It was worse than he could imagine. His eyes immediately started to water. His face was stinging. He pulled the hood up over his head again – the wind seemed to like pulling it down and beating him in the back of the head with it, sending frozen tendrils down his unprotected neck. Without gloves, his hands were quickly becoming raw in the wind, but he had to hold the hood up.

"THRAWN!?" Eli shouted again, but the cold of the wind stole his breath away, and he gasped instead, struggling to regain his breath. His lungs were stinging from the cold, as if the air itself was freezing the air inside his chest.

The visibility was low, frightfully low. And Thrawn had just run off. And the cold… he had no idea how badly the cold would bother his friend, but he hoped Thrawn could tolerate it better than he could.

His lungs were burning. He brought a hand to his mouth, trying to blow into a fist to keep his hand warm. But the warmth of his breath was lost before it even touched his hand.

"THRAWN!?" Eli tried to shout again. Again, his voice came out barely above a whisper.

Even his eyes felt raw from the cold. He blinked again, and then with a stab of panic, realized he couldn't open them. They had frozen shut.

He slapped a hand to his face, trying to rub away the ice, and that's when Eli realized his hands were going numb. It wasn't like he hadn't noticed the burning sensation as his flesh slowly froze – but everything was freezing. Trying to use his hands brought the issue to his attention.

He looked down at his hands – his fingers were painfully red – and as he mentally tried to will his fingers to move, he realized they wouldn't. He tucked his hands into his sleeves, but even the Imperial-issued cold weather gear couldn't stop the wind from biting through.

Too late Eli realized that even if he was out in this storm for barely a few minutes, he was going to freeze to death before he found Thrawn.

His heart was racing, and he again tried to desperately see through the storm. A blue Chiss should pop out in an environment like this…. But no matter where Eli turned, all he could see was the gray sky and white snow…

…and that was it.

A new panic overwhelmed Eli as he realized he had no idea which way the shuttle was.

He stood rooted to the spot, head swiveling in every direction. He looked down at the ground – of course! The snow! He would have left footpr-

Eli felt his jaw drop – the wind was so strong, it had already erased any trace of a foot print. He winced as the next gale slammed into him. He had no idea that cold could make his joints freeze up, too. His muscles were so cold they could barely bend – on top of the freezing, his legs were cramping up so bad that it hurt just to stand.

He tried to take a step – he had to keep moving – but his legs were so stiff he could barely shuffle a few steps. He staggered – nearly lost his balance – and was knocked over by the next gale.

Eli lifted his head coughing, and the coppery taste of blood on his tongue. Looking down at the snow in front of him, he could see the faintest spray of blood. His lungs… his lungs were being torn to shreds by the cold.

Eli knew he had to get up. He had to stand up or he was going to die. But the promise of laying down was too strong. _Just lay down…just for a minute… you can spare a minute… rest long enough to regain your strength_.

It was the last thought Eli had.

\- SWR -

Thrawn got back to the ship feeling invigorated. Yeah, the planet was a bust, and as far as he could tell, there was nothing living on it, but it was worth it just to be able to feel the cold – true cold – again.

"Ensign Vanto?" Thrawn called out, his concern growing once he noticed the ramp was still down. Surely, he would have raised the ramp? His little human aide who always complained about the cold…

When he realized the shuttle was empty, Thrawn began to worry.

He ran back out into the storm, calling Eli's name, looking everywhere. His eyes should have been able to detect Eli's heat signature – the shuttle itself was like a beacon, shooting heat up into the sky.

Even if Thrawn had a lot to learn about humans, he knew they couldn't tolerate cold like he could. And even the other humans teased Eli about having a lower tolerance than average.

Thrawn was running, his eyes constantly scanning the horizon, hoping to pick up something. Eli couldn't have gotten too far, could he?

A dreadful thought hit him – since the navy issued its cold weather gear in white, if Eli was too cold for his eyes to detect his heat signature, he would be too perfectly camouflaged to be seen.

"ELI?" Thrawn shouted, climbing up a small drift made of ice and scanning, desperately searching… and… there!

Thrawn ran as fast as he could to the crumpled figure lying face down in the snow and flipped him over.

"ELI!" Thrawn shouted again, cupping his hand around the back of Eli's head to lift it up… but he was unconscious. And cold. His lips were blue and chapped. His skin was red and raw. His hands… Thrawn grabbed one of them. They were bleeding.

Without another word, Thrawn scooped up Eli in his arms and ran as fast as he could back to the shuttle. His mind was racing just as fast trying to figure out what to do. How to get Eli warm again.

First step was to get Eli out of the elements. That was at least easy. Once they were inside the shuttle, Thrawn shut the ramp. But next… he had to warm Eli up. Thrawn knew Eli wouldn't just get warm on his own… not when he was this far gone.

Mind racing, Thrawn tried to remember what he'd learned about human first aid. Hypothermia… He had to get Eli warm… but not too fast – that bit jumped out. He couldn't put Eli in a warm shower, it would hurt worse.

And then he remembered – share body heat.

Thrawn carried Eli into the small cabin - a small private room only really needed for long flights. The bed was small, but it would have to do.

Peeling off Eli's jacket, his boots, his pants were clinging to him, having gotten wet from the snow… Thrawn had to rip them off Eli, they were stuck to his legs. Eli's tunic was no longer serviceable – Thrawn ripped the fastens clean off trying to undo them. And then, with only the slightest reservation, pulled off Eli's undergarments.

And quickly covering him with a blanket, feeling his face growing warm as he tried to respect Eli's privacy but failing.

Thrawn got undressed, not wanting to make much of what he was preparing to do, but failing at that too. He focused on what he was doing. His hands flew through the motions, but they were shaking. He chided himself, knowing that despite the situation, Eli's life was hanging in the balance.

He worked faster after that. Quickly he got under the covers, wrapping his arms around Eli's frozen body, holding him chest against chest, wrapping a leg around Eli's, and wondering how else he could give Eli the body heat he needed. And… waited.

"Shhhh," Thrawn found himself saying, nestling his face into the side of Eli's neck, clutching onto him, trying to calm his own fears that Eli could be dying.

He became absolutely transfixed on Eli's breathing, feeling the weak rise and fall of his chest against his own, Eli's soft breath against his skin. Thrawn rubbed Eli's back, softly, unsure if it would hurt, but wanting to help.

And Eli's face… still so red and raw. His lips… they weren't supposed to be blue.

Not to mention how cold his body was. Thrawn had been rubbing his back, and debated whether or not he should try rubbing the rest of his body. It had to help, right? Getting the blood circulating again?

But his hand snaked down from Eli's back… to his thigh… and Thrawn got too embarrassed to do it.

"Eli… please," Thrawn whispered.

This was his fault.

He had no idea Eli would try to go after him, and the thought that he would made Thrawn both proud and shamed. He should have said something before leaving – he should have refused to let Eli come along.

Eli should have been smarter than to run out into a blizzard like that… no, Thrawn realized. He was smarter than that. But Eli put his own safety at risk to try and help him…

"I'm sorry, Eli," Thrawn whispered, his lips brushing against Eli's skin as he talked. His heart skipped a fluttering beat, as an odd thrill raced through him. So close… and yet, he dared not. It wouldn't be right. This was a closeness he'd been yearning for.

And even the thought of pressing his lips against Eli's neck, without him being awake, filled him with a kind of self-loathing that almost made him leave the bed altogether.

But no… Eli still needed him.

The longer he laid there, the more Thrawn's thoughts troubled him. Eli surely cared about him in _some_ way, right? He wouldn't have run out into the blizzard if he hadn't. It wasn't simply that he was looking for a superior officer?

Thrawn closed his eyes, chiding himself again.

He'd been through this too many times before. Questioning everything. He liked Eli's company, and doing anything to ruin that was not worth it. Even if it made him miserable. Eli's friendship meant everything to him. It made living in this xenophobic world tolerable.

Eli stirred.

Thrawn smiled, hugging him even closer, rubbing his back again hoping it might help to wake him up.

"Thrawn?" Eli whispered. His voice was weak, terrifyingly weak, but he was speaking.

"Ensign Vanto," Thrawn said, immediately going to a safe place – work relationship. "How are you feeling?"

"What?" Eli asked, his eyes fluttering open. Thrawn felt a stab of pity at how red his eyes were, his face still was – so red and raw… he was so weak.

"You were dying of hypothermia," Thrawn explained.

"Am I … _naked_?" Eli asked.

"…..yes," Thrawn said. He felt his body tense up, anticipating some kind of negative reaction.

"That's why you wanted to come to this planet," Eli said, resting his head back down.

"Explain," Thrawn said, surprised by Eli's acceptance of the situation. Again, he tried to scold himself for reading too much into things.

"You came down to this planet just so you'd have a reason to get in bed with me," Eli mumbled.

Thrawn's body tensed up again, this time from surprise. But then he felt Eli's hands against his chest, his fingers digging feebly into his skin, the wanting clear as day.

"And this doesn't upset you?"

"Just wish you'd thought of something nicer than ... scaring me half to death and making me freeze to death."

Thrawn smiled, squeezing his little human closer.

But the next moment, Eli was unconscious again.

Thrawn couldn't help smiling as he settled back down, holding Eli close. Maybe he'd talked out of sickness, or wouldn't remember what he said. But no matter what, Eli would be fine. Though how long it would take him to wake up was anyone's guess.

Not that Thrawn would mind.


	6. Swimming

"Come on," Ensign Eli Vanto said, grabbing onto Thrawn's arm and giving it a slight tug.

Thrawn followed, slightly amused, wondering why his aide was sneaking off.

True, the mission they had been assigned didn't need their presence. He and Eli had been sent down to Scarif to oversee a data transfer – the sort of boring, pointless job Captain Rossi liked to send her least favorite lieutenant on.

Except this time, Eli was particularly pleased about going.

"Ensign Vanto," Thrawn began, a frown covering his face as his aide led them further away from the base and into the jungle. "Where are we going?"

"Swimming," he answered.

"Define swimming."

Eli stopped dead in his tracks. "You're kidding? You've never-" he cut himself off. "Oh, right. Ice planet. Well, today you're going to learn."

Thrawn's frown deepened. Nothing about what Eli made him pleased. Eli hadn't even bothered to define swimming, and somehow this activity was in direct juxtaposition with coming from a glacially locked planet.

Thrawn didn't like it, but he trusted Eli, so went along with him anyways.

"Alright, this'll work," Eli said, stopping at the edge of the trees. They were standing on a small beach, covered in white powder sand, the turquoise ocean water calm before them. Eli looked back the way they'd come. "Perfect."

Thrawn looked back, too, trying to see what Eli saw. The jungle was thick – the way back to base completely blocked by foliage. Anyone looking this direction from the base would be unable to notice them.

Thrawn turned back around, arching one of his blue-black eyebrows at his aide.

"Okay, now, get undressed," Eli said as he hopped on one leg trying to get his boots off.

The eyebrow arched higher.

"Ensign Vanto-" Thrawn started.

"Look, it'll be alright," Eli said, obviously not picking up on Thrawn's concern. "You don't want to go swimming in clothes anyways, it's uncomfortable and we'd never get them dry in time."

"Ensign Vanto-" Thrawn tried again more persistently, absolutely lost.

"How long is this data transfer supposed to take anyways?" Eli asked.

"An hour or so, I suppose," Thrawn said, growing more flustered as his many questions went unanswered.

"Perfect," Eli said, his boots laying haphazardly around the beach as he tugged his tunic off. "Why aren't you undressing?"

Thrawn's lips pursed, and started to unfasten his tunic.

"You get sunburnt?" Eli asked.

"Define… sunburn," Thrawn said, not really expecting an answer.

"Nothing we could do about it now anyway," Eli said, ignoring him. He had undressed down to his standard Imperial black underwear and stood off to the side, waiting. Thrawn continued removing his uniform, until he was at the same level of undress as Eli, still feeling confused and yet still trusting Eli.

"Alright, come on," Eli said, gesturing for Thrawn to follow him.

And… that human… walked right into the water. Thrawn planted his feet on the shore.

"Ensign Vanto, what are you-"

"I said we're going swimming," Eli reminded Thrawn, forgetting that Thrawn had no idea what swimming was. "A pointless mission on Scarif with lots of time to kill? There's no way I'd turn this down."

Thrawn's eyes darted to Eli's feet… except they were gone. Under water. He was nearly up to his waist when Thrawn called out again.

"You're far enough," he said, feeling helplessly trapped on the shore.

"You haven't even gotten in the water yet!" Eli called back. "You see how calm the water is? Warm, too. This might be the best beach in the galaxy and you're going to miss it."

"I can see it just fine," Thrawn said, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Ensign Vanto, please come back, I think I see something-"

"Oh, yeah, would you look at that," Eli said, as he glanced over his shoulder and spun around. "Colorful little guy, isn't he?"

"Ensign Vanto, please return to shore, it could be poisonous," Thrawn said more persistently.

"It's a fish, sir," Eli said with a smile. "Probably just curious. Look, see? There he goes. Come on, at least get your feet wet."

Thrawn sighed, placing a blue foot in the water. And felt absolutely miserable.

"Yes, okay, I have experienced swimming, can we leave?" he asked.

"That's not swimming," Eli said, laughing. "You need to get your whole body in the water for that."

Thrawn looked down at the water. "I believe this is a human endeavor I will skip."

"Suit yourself," Eli said, and to Thrawn's absolute horror, he _submerged himself under the water._

Thrawn's heart leapt into his throat. Trapped on the shore, he craned his neck, trying to figure out what had happened. Had Eli been grabbed by some sort of oceanic monster? Had his legs suddenly given out? Was he dying?

Eli came back up, several meters away from where he'd gone in.

"Ensign Vanto, are you alright!?" Thrawn said, trying his best to sound professional.

"Of course," Eli said, Thrawn feeling another throb of terror as he somehow managed to lean onto his back, his toes sticking out of the water. "I spent every summer of my childhood on Lysatra finding a swimming hole I could escape the heat in."

"I see…" Thrawn said, not seeing at all, his mind frantically trying to think of a way to get Eli out of the water. He hadn't tried pulling rank on him yet.

"Ensign Vanto," he said, drawing himself up despite feeling utterly frantic. "I order you to get out of the water."

"I didn't think you could legally give me an order while you're not following regulation yourself," Eli said, grinning.

Thrawn frowned, realizing he was standing in his underwear, and turned back to go get dressed.

"Come on," Eli called out. "You didn't even give it a chance. I promise, you'll like swimming."

Thrawn was fairly positive that he wouldn't enjoy it at all. He'd never encountered such a large expanse of water, but he knew enough that beings like humans or Chiss couldn't breathe in it. And he couldn't possibly fathom enjoying playing in a death trap.

A splash redirected Thrawn's attention to the ocean, and felt his heart stop.

"OW!" Eli cried out, his arms flailing in the water. "I THINK I JUST GOT STUNG BY SOMETHING."

Thrawn ran back to the edge of the ocean, feeling even more helpless. _He knew it_! This thing was a death trap. And Eli had gotten caught.

"THRAWN!" Eli cried out again. "I… think I'm… everything's going dark…"

Thrawn stared in horror as Eli sunk beneath the surface of the water.

Now he was really panicking. He hesitated just a moment before he ran out into the water. He moment he'd gotten knee deep, Thrawn tripped over his feet. This water… it was impossible to move in! Thankfully he was able to stand back up quickly, his glowing eyes scanning the water, trying to locate Eli.

There! Thrawn waded out to the spot, grabbing Eli as best as he could without getting his head under the water, and lifted him up.

"ELI!" he said, terrified and unsure of what to do.

Eli looked fine…. He was breathing. He didn't have any apparent injuries. But that didn't mean anything. They were in an unpredictable environment. With stinging beasts that left its victims completely immobile in a medium that was impossible to breath in.

"Eli, are you alright?" Thrawn tried again, the desperation noticeable on his voice, giving Eli's face the slightest of slaps. He began trying to drag the human back to the shore when-

Suddenly, Eli's eyes shot open. He glanced over at Thrawn, a smile forming.

"I knew you could do it," Eli said.

"Rescue you? But of course-"

"No, I meant swimming. You just needed the right motivation."

Thrawn narrowed his eyes slightly, realizing he had been tricked, but the laugh that escaped Eli's lips was good natured. And it was impossible for him to stay angry at his aide.

"Very well, here I am," Thrawn said, resigning himself to his fate. The fate of swimming. "But I'm not going under water."

"Alright, I'll give you that," Eli said, looking out at the horizon – the water stretching uninterrupted.

"Unless I get in trouble way out there," he said, a mischievous grin on his face.


	7. Hot

In which Thrawn gets a little too hot.

* * *

Thrawn was reaching the point where he didn't care about appearances anymore. Dignity? Almost didn't matter. Seeming to be in control? In charge? Hell, he was on the verge of admitting he needed _help_.

It was hot.

Thrawn had no idea how Ensign Vanto was handling it. Each time he dared to shoot a sideways glance at his aide, Eli was walking normally, head and eyes directed straight ahead, his stride showing no signs of slowing. His brow looked a little moist but…

Thrawn, on the other hand, was pretty sure he was dying.

Casually, he reached up to pull at his collar.

"Are you alright, sir?"

His hand immediately snapped to his side.

"Of course, Ensign."

Well, the heat wasn't so intolerable. Yet.

Thrawn had never experienced such heat. He had acclimated to the temperatures the Empire maintained aboard ship over a relatively short period of time, but it was mild compared to the planet they were currently on. When he and Eli first stepped off their Lambda shuttle onto the planet surface – to help resolve some minor conflict between a local native tribe and an Imperial outpost – Thrawn was pretty sure the planet had to be uninhabitable.

To his horror, he found nearly all the humans making slight jokes about something called "humidity," with no further explanations on why it was humorous or even what it was. Thrawn had asked about its meaning to Eli, who merely answered, "it's the moisture in the air."

Which didn't explain why it was funny.

Or why this planet was so hot.

"Sir?" Eli's voice spoke into his thoughts.

"Yes, Ensign?"

"You alright? You're breathing kind of heavy."

Thrawn hadn't noticed.

"I'll manage."

"That's not the same as 'alright.'"

Thrawn managed a slight smirk at his aide's persistence, but didn't answer. Partly, he didn't know what would happen if he allowed himself to start complaining. It would certainly not be proper as an officer, what with the troops all around them.

Plus, Thrawn was fairly certain that once he did complain, Eli would force him to rest, which would again, not be proper. He was an officer of the Imperial Navy, sent to this planet to accomplish a mission, and he'd get it done even-

"Sir?"

Eli interrupted his thoughts again.

"Yes?"

That time, Thrawn could detect the exhaustion on his own voice.

"You're not taking to this place all that well, are you?" Eli said in a hush – obviously also attuned to the delicate situation they are in.

"It is… nearly unbearable," Thrawn admitted, grimacing as his words came out in between his own heavy breaths. "Is this climate acceptable to you?"

"Hardly," Eli said quickly. Just as Thrawn had predicted, concern had wiped any professionalism off his aide's face. "But I'm used to this. You aren't. And the heat is doing a number on you."

"I can manage," Thrawn repeated. "Until we are done… with this…" he gestured with his hands as he scanned the area. "Survey."

"I doubt that," Eli muttered. "You can't even breath through your nose."

Thrawn immediately closed his mouth, but he couldn't keep it up. His body was close to panicking. The humidity in the air was something his lungs were not used to, and their inefficiency was robbing his body of oxygen. Which meant that his brain was forcing his body to take deeper breaths through the mouth. Unfortunately, within moments, Thrawn was taking such deep breaths he appeared absolutely exhausted.

Any attempts at professionalism was pretty much moot once Thrawn began panting.

"Sir," Eli said sternly. "If you don't say something, I will."

"Ensign Vanto," Thrawn said, pausing to take a breath, before delivering his order, "I forbid you… from making known… my condition."

Eli glowered, the look on his face both hurt and defiant. But for the moment, he merely continued walking, satisfying his concern with frequent glances at his superior.

Thrawn was only mildly calmed.

Because the truth was that Thrawn would do almost anything to escape the heat at that point, and the only thing holding him back was his own sense of duty.

Again Thrawn pulled at his uniform's high collar when he was pretty sure their stormtrooper escort wasn't going to notice, and was surprised to feel heat escaping, warming his neck. The Imperial uniform was generally breathable, but on this planet, it was only contributing to Thrawn's heat exhaustion. It was trapping his body heat, exasperating the situation.

And he loathed to dwell on the sweat, though it was quickly becoming impossible not to think about it. He could feel it dripping down his stomach, his thighs – in places he never thought it was possible to sweat. Absentmindedly, he reached up and wiped at his brow – streams of it was dripping down his face.

And he looked at his hand, horrified to see actual beads of moisture. Even his hands were sweating.

The next step Thrawn took, he didn't lift his foot high enough and stumbled over his own feet. Eli moved closer immediately, but Thrawn regained his balance. He grimaced, and tried to blink back the slow, impending thud of a headache. But once he noticed it, it was impossible to ignore. It only made his fatigue all the more unbearable.

Even if he said nothing, even if he did everything to keep up appearances, Thrawn knew it was a lost cause. One look was all it would take for a casual observer to notice how badly he was handling the heat.

Being completely new to these experiences, Thrawn had no idea how long he could endure before succumbing. Or even what succumbing would be.

Fortunately, Eli knew.

"Sir," Eli said, the stern voice deepening. "I'm going to say something."

"If you were… you would have… without… telling me," Thrawn said. There was a glimmer of hope in that – if Eli was looking for his approval to help, then it meant that disobeying Thrawn's earlier order might still carry some consequences. The situation couldn't have been that bad.

"Your pride's going to get you killed," Eli muttered back.

"Killed?" Thrawn asked.

"Yes. Killed," Eli said.

Thrawn frowned.

"You really don't know that?" Eli said, reading the Chiss's expression. Whatever he could read from Thrawn's face, it was enough to settle his mind on something.

"That's it," Eli said.

"We… are in … the wrong… position," Thrawn said, his voice soft. He wanted to think his tone was because he was trying to remain as silent as possible, but part of him knew it was really because he was weakening considerably.

"You can shove the 'appropriate conduct of an officer' right up-"

"No… I mean… where we are…" Thrawn said, his brow furrowing at the difficulties he had at developing coherent thoughts. "We are… far from… our shuttle."

"What are you talking about?" Eli asked. "We're already halfway back to it."

Thrawn snapped his head up, looking around. But the place was unrecognizable. A flutter of panic infiltrated his thoughts – his usually impeccable memory, so finely attuned to absorbing the smallest details, was also being affected by the heat.

And then he grimaced again, as the headache made it impossible to think clearly much further. His shoulders slumped, the grimace stayed on his face… the panting was heaving his entire chest. And then he found it impossible to take another step.

"Sir?" Eli said. Thrawn felt him grab his arm, and he winced slightly at the touch. "Hey, I need-!"

But whatever else Eli said, Thrawn didn't stay conscious long enough to hear.

-SWR-

Eli knew he should have moved faster. Been more assertive. Something. He moved just fast enough to keep Thrawn from collapsing completely.

"Sir?" Eli asked again, turning towards the stormtroopers who'd been leading them back to the shuttle.

"Hey! I need a hand!" Eli shouted, the troopers turning nearly in unison and rushing to his side.

"What happened?" one said in a filtered voice.

"He's passed out," Eli said, crumpling slightly under Thrawn's weight. "It's the heat, we need to get him back to the shuttle."

"I'll call up a speeder," another trooper said, reaching for a commlink and relaying the order.

"Help me get him to some shade," Eli ordered, surprised how naturally a command voice came to him. He wasn't used to giving orders – and less comfortable doing so. But this time was different. Or maybe Thrawn's well being made him act against his own shy nature.

With two stormtroopers help, Eli half-carried, half-dragged Thrawn to the nearest shade – in the shadows thrown by a nearby building. But even in the shade, Eli could feel only a marginal difference in the temperature, and obviously no difference to the humidity.

"Come on, Thrawn…" Eli coaxed, starting to unfasten the Chiss's uniform tunic.

"Speeder's here," was the only cue Eli needed to abandon his work and begin the task of getting Thrawn back to the shuttle. It was a good thing the Chiss was unconscious, because Eli was pretty sure his pride would have been quite wounded at the idea of being carried or shuttled across a town, in full view of it's inhabitants.

Once they reached the Lambda, Eli thanked the stormtroopers for their help, and refused any further assistance. If Eli was sure Thrawn's pride couldn't handle what had happened in town, he was absolutely positive Thrawn wouldn't want an audience for anything else he had planned.

Eli had asked the stormtroopers to leave Thrawn laying on a bench in the cargo hold, and rushed forward to the cockpit, hitting the panel for the climate control with shaking hands. He got the artificial climate as cold as the settings would allow and rushed back.

Thrawn looked awful. For once, he was pale – a sickly shade of ice blue. And Eli knew that while being flushed was a bad sign, this was even worse. And Thrawn wasn't just hot to the touch, he was _burning._

"Hold on, sir," Eli said.

He pulled off Thrawn's boots at the same time, surprised at how easily they came off, which was directly in contrast to how hard it was to pull off Thrawn's socks. Somehow, knowledge of treating this kind of heat sickness was coming back to Eli from ages ago – when he was a kid and watched in horror as his parents and neighbors had come to the rescue of an elderly man who had been stricken with a similar condition during a Lysatra festival.

First step was remove any constrictive clothing. Like boots. And belts.

Eli grabbed at Thrawn's belt, his hands fumbling with it, and he cursed his own nerves. Maybe sending the stormtroopers away wasn't the best idea.

He went for the tunic next – picking up where his earlier attempt had left off – struggling to get it off Thrawn, as he was practically dead weight. And Eli cursed himself again for not having intervened earlier as his hands quite literally slipped against the sweat clinging to Thrawn's body.

He knew better than to take Thrawn on his word.

Working the undershirt over Thrawn's arms and head was easier, but still, the fabric clung stubbornly to Thrawn's wet body.

Eli winced in embarrassment as he pulled at the band of Thrawn's trousers, testing how tightly they wrapped the Chiss's waist… and… yeah. They _were_ tight. Constrictive clothing had to go.

Pulling them down was difficult, with the sweat making the fabric cling to Thrawn's legs, attempting to pull them off made all the worse by the awkwardness of the situation. With another tug, Eli wondered what Thrawn would think if he woke up suddenly. The tugs were forceful enough to shake anyone awake.

But with only minor relief, Eli managed to get them off without Thrawn coming to or uncomfortable questions being raised.

"And now for the hard part," Eli muttered to himself, wrapping his arms underneath Thrawn's, taking a deep breath, and tried to drag him. And immediately lost his grip. It was like trying to hold onto a greased pig.

"Perfect," Eli said, repeating the attempt, but interlacing his fingers around Thrawn's chest, hoping it would help secure his hold. It did.

Of course, dragging Thrawn into the shuttle's tiny refresher nearly destroyed Eli's back.

He slumped over, breathing nearly as hard as Thrawn bad been, and reached over to turn on the faucet for the shower. Even though the water was painfully cold to Eli's hand, he knew what was more important was getting Thrawn under the water.

Thankfully the shuttle _had_ a shower – a bath would have been better, but Eli was willing to accept what he'd been given. Dragging Thrawn under the water left him completely soaked, but Eli hardly noticed. He took an inordinate amount of time ensuring that Thrawn was safely propped up in the corner of the shower, slumped back, and at no risk of falling.

When he was sure Thrawn was fine, Eli dashed back into the cockpit, fumbling around until he found the medpack. And the thermometer inside.

The results were bad… even though Eli had no idea what Thrawn's normal core temperature was, the reading he got was high. Eli felt his stomach drop a little bit. He was a lost. He had no idea what else he could do other than wait.

"Come on, Thrawn," Eli coaxed again, reaching up to wipe some of the water away from the Chiss's eyes. He looked down at his watch. Only a minute had gone by, but he was impatient. He took Thrawn's temperature again. It hadn't changed.

Desperately, Eli turned back to the medpack, but nothing jumped out at him as the obvious solution. A bacta patch wouldn't do anything. Bandages? Wipes? A stim-shot, maybe…. Eli reached out to put a hand on Thrawn's neck, but the pulse was fine.

At Eli's touch, Thrawn stirred.

"Sir?" Eli asked with a soft laugh of relief.

Thrawn's eyes fluttered open. The glow was subdued, not as intense as usual, but they were open. Thrawn's gaze drifted around the shower, analytically taking in his surroundings, until finally settling on Eli's face.

"Eli," Thrawn muttered.

"Thrawn," Eli said. "How do you feel?"

"Horrible," Thrawn said. And he must have felt even worse than that to so readily offer such a negative description.

"I got you back here as fast as I could," Eli said. "You passed out."

"I did?"

"Completely blacked out. I had to carry you back."

Thrawn frowned, his eyes casting sharply away.

"Sir?"

"I should have asked for your help before it got to that point," Thrawn said. "At the very least, we could have walked back together… sorry, Ensign."

Eli smiled, "I'm just glad to see you're doing better. You scared me there for a minute."

"You were scared?"

"For you," Eli confirmed. "You really didn't know heat could affect someone that badly?"

"I hadn't looked into it, no," Thrawn said, sitting up a little straighter. "What are we doing now?"

"Oh," Eli said, feeling his face warm. "I had to get your core body temperature down as fast as possible. This was the easiest way."

Thrawn seemed to notice Eli's discomfort and reached up to grab onto his arm. "Thank you, Ensign Vanto. You have never ceased to amaze me with what you are willing to do to help others. It may be one of your most charming attributes."

Eli glanced away, feeling his face grow even hotter.

"You're welcome," Eli said, and then winced. "I mean, thank you."

Thrawn smiled one of his small smiles.

"You're welcome."


	8. Bad Dreams

Eli slowly opened his eyes, blinking away his drowsiness and peering out into the room. He had a sense that something wasn't right, but the room was dark, the soft humming of the artificial climate control threatening to lull him back to sleep.

 _No…_ Eli blinked away the sleep again, focusing. _Not yet._

And there it was.

The bed gave a slight shake beneath him. Eli sighed, running a hand through his hair before propping himself up on an elbow and looking over his shoulder.

Only when he was sleeping, did Thrawn ever lose control.

Eli watched for another moment, analyzing the Chiss's behavior to see if it warranted his intervention. A few seconds dragged before Thrawn tossed his head to the side, mumbling something incoherently. Eli put his hand onto the blue, bare chest. The muscles under the clammy skin were tense. Thrawn's heart beat was definitely high.

"Thrawn?" Eli whispered, shaking his hand gently. Nothing too rousing. Not yet. He'd learned from experience that waking Thrawn as naturally as possible was to both of their benefits.

Thrawn merely mumbled again. It wasn't anything Eli could understand, which was probably for the best. As much as Eli wished he knew more about what was causing these frequent nightmares, it almost felt like an invasion of privacy – if Thrawn didn't want to discuss it when he was awake, who was Eli to gain information when he was unconscious?

Eli moved his hand to Thrawn's shoulder, shaking it a little harder this time.

Just more mumblings.

Eli huffed. So it was going to be one of those nights? He pushed himself up into a sitting position. Thrawn flung his head to the other side with a sudden thrash, and Eli scowled, reaching over to grab Thrawn's chin.

His intention had been to turn Thrawn's face back to him, as though getting an ornery child to pay attention to his parent, but between moving from Thrawn's shoulder to his chin, Eli's hand brushed against Thrawn's neck and-

Thrawn bolted upright so suddenly, Eli jumped back, and-

-with a frightened yelp, frantically waving his arms, Eli fell out of the bed.

He hit the ground hard, getting the knocked the wind out of him in the process, and groaned in annoyance. It was going to be one of _those_ nights, alright.

The room was now lit in the soft red glow emanating from Thrawn's eyes. The next moment, two red beacons were peering down at him.

"Good morning," Eli mumbled, ungracefully tumbling over so he could get to his hands and knees and crawl back into bed.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Thrawn's voice balanced between polite reverence and concern.

"No, you did."

Thrawn's voice turned decidedly less cheerful. "I see."

"Care to explain what that was all about?"

Thrawn didn't answer.

Eli scowled a bit and threw himself back into his pillow, drawing up his blanket around his shoulders, effectively pushing Thrawn away. Only moments before he was more than willing to respect Thrawn's privacy, but that was before he'd fallen out of bed.

"I apologize that my dreams are finding a way to make your nights miserable, too."

And with that, Eli could feel his heart breaking. He pushed himself back up to a sitting position, trying to read Thrawn's distant expression by the faint red glow of his eyes.

"Perhaps it would be better if we did not share-"

"But I like sleeping next to you," Eli cut him off. "Honest. I didn't mean to lose my temper, that was just a product of me falling out of bed."

Thrawn smiled weakly, and blinked slowly. The sensation was jarring – the unexpected plunge into complete darkness as the glow from Thrawn's eyes were extinguished, then having the light to see by again. It was just one of the things Eli had to learn how to get used to.

"Thank you, Eli. Your devotion is…. without equal."

"I know, you don't like being alone."

Thrawn stiffened slightly.

"It's alright," Eli added quickly. "I imagine after being exiled for so long, being by yourself like that, hell, I get clingy after a few hours."

"Eli," Thrawn whispered, turning to face the human and cradling his face in his hands. Eli slowly closed his eyes, treasuring the gesture. If Thrawn irritated him half the time, the other half he was being devastatingly romantic. Made for an even trade.

"How in all the stars did I manage to find a creature as perfect as you?"

Eli blushed, trying to stifle an embarrassed laugh. With Thrawn still holding his face, it just resulted in smushed cheeks and a less than romantic response. But at least it managed to make Thrawn smile.

"You can't keep flattering me like that," Eli said once he wriggled away.

"And why should I stop?" Thrawn asked.

Eli rested his head against Thrawn's chest, looking up at him. "You'll run out of things to say."

"And I suppose you believe there is a limit to how one can describe perfection? Challenge accepted."

"Yeah, challenge accepted," Eli said, his smile falling. "Just don't start now."

"Why not?"

"It's the middle of the night. _And_ we have class in the morning."

Thrawn smiled, and laid down, pulling Eli alongside next to him. Eli let himself relax, closing his eyes, but the room didn't get dark. He peeked out of one of his eyes, noticing the room was still under a red glow.

"A good way to go back to sleep is to close your eyes, Thrawn."

"My eyes haven't had enough of you yet. They still need to absorb your every detail before they can be satisfied."

"I said we can start with that poetry stuff tomorrow."

"Poetry doesn't follow schedules."

Eli rolled his eyes. Yeah. It was going to be one of those nights.


	9. Hair

They were the first words he thought to say, though in hindsight, Eli Vanto wished he would have said anything else.

It was purely an impulse. A common phrase. Nothing more to it than that.

Thrawn told him exactly how long to wait before risking coming in after him… when that time had come and gone…. When Eli stumbled into that back room and saw Thrawn struggling with those two smugglers, his brain supplied him with the most intimidating I'm-coming-for-you thing to shout.

"Don't you harm a hair on his head!"

The smugglers halted. Not that they were intimidated. They merely didn't expect the Chiss to have any back up.

Thrawn, with hair mussed up and his uniform rumpled, and sporting what might grow to become a black eye, merely looked over at Eli, confused as ever.

"Not to worry, Ensign. Chiss hair follicles don't have feelings."

"It's a figure of speech!" Eli barked back, before lunging into the fray.

Eli's efforts, however valiantly attempted, were unnecessary. Thrawn quickly turned the tables on his attackers, and before a minute had passed, both smugglers were on their knees, hands behind their heads. Another mission, successfully completed.

Eli rubbed his jaw – Thrawn's deception was unmasked a little too late to avoid getting slugged by one of the two men. Thrawn took almost no notice of Eli's injuries. In fact… to Eli's annoyance, Thrawn made a great show of smoothing out his uniform for him and…

"My hat is fine," Eli muttered through clenched teeth, blushing a little as the smugglers stared.

Eli didn't think anything more of it. Just Thrawn being awkwardly Thrawn. He'd forgotten what he had said altogether.

It wasn't until he was writing his own after-action report that he asked Thrawn for clarification.

"Yes… you used a very fascinating phrase," Thrawn said. " _ _Don't you harm a hair on his head.__ Interesting."

At the time, Eli blushed at Thrawn's annunciation of his Wild Space euphemism. He figured by Thrawn's musing tone that the Chiss would ask him about the idiom. He didn't.

The next day, Eli realized the concept hadn't come across as an idiom.

"Ensign…." Thrawn whispered low, looking over at one of their colleagues. A female. "Is that bothersome for her?"

"Hmmm?" Eli asked, glancing over at the woman. "What?"

"Her hair."

Eli choked back a laugh of surprise. It had been a while since Thrawn asked such a strange question about human culture. He'd almost forgotten there might be some things that were still to be asked about.

"Her hair? What of it?" Eli whispered back.

"It's…" Thrawn contemplated his words. "Twisted. Bound up."

"Yeah, it's regulation," Eli said, shrugging. "Females with long hair have to keep it up in a bun. I suppose if it bothers her too much to keep up with it, she could cut if off."

Thrawn frowned as if the entire thing was highly dissatisfying.

"They… don't do that in the Chiss military?" Eli prompted.

"No," Thrawn answered bluntly.

Eli thought that was the end of it. The day was long with the normal naval routines of working as an aide to the ship's weapons officer. By the time they were released, Eli was ready to put his feet up.

Except that on their way back, Thrawn walked past the onboard barber and once more, his mood turned brooding.

"Is… everything okay, sir?" Eli asked.

"Why do humans do that?"

"Do… what?" Eli glanced down the walkway. Surely he had missed something awful or obscene. But no… the halls were empty.

"Cutting hair," Thrawn said. "It must be horrible."

"Well… you mean… __the barber?__ " Eli stammered, as confused as ever. "It's Imperial regulation. Good order and discipline. There's a standard for how one should appear while wearing a military uniform."

"A poor explanation."

Eli blinked away his surprise at Thrawn's sudden coldness. They walked into their joint quarters, Eli offering the lame explanation, "It's… just what we do."

"To what end?" Thrawn asked. "What does the Navy gain by tormenting its service members in such a way?"

"You get used to it," Eli said, not knowing what else to say. Thrawn had never made so much as a peep about Imperial uniform regulations before. Eli slumped down on his bed, taking off his cap first and then his belt. Like the end of most days, he was eager to get the uncomfortable uniform off.

"Even now, it's the first thing you do."

"What?" Eli asked. "Thrawn…. Sir? I'm not following."

"Your hat," Thrawn explained, picking up the discarded cover. "You took it off."

"Yeah," Eli huffed, leaning back again and closing his eyes. "I'm off of work. And I've got a headache."

Thrawn worked the hat through his fingers, looking down at it. "Yet this is also part of the uniform. Even if it causes discomfort."

Eli opened an eye, looking at Thrawn and desperately wanting to tell him that all of these questions were causing discomfort.

"What can I say?" Eli sighed. "Just add that to your list of what you want to do once you become admiral."

Eli closed his eyes again, figuring the Chiss was done, only to jump up moments later when he felt a hand on top of his head.

"S-sir?" Eli asked. "Did… are you … __petting__ me?"

"I thought it would sooth you," Thrawn said. "All this time, you've been suffering silently. All of you. That woman we saw earlier. All suffering for the sake of looking proper."

Eli scowled under Thrawn's attention.

" _ _Sir…__ "

"Your hair," Thrawn said. "You revealed it the other day. Don't you remember? __Don't you hurt a hair on his head.__ That's how you worded it."

It took a moment for the idea to sink in. And then Eli burst out laughing. It was a good natured laugh, though Thrawn looked absolutely puzzled.

"It's… that's an idiom, Thrawn," Eli said, leaning back and looking up at the Chiss. "It's… just another idiom. It means… even if hair doesn't have feeling, you care enough about the person you don't even want something that doesn't feel to get hurt. Does that make sense to you?"

"Yes… apologies, Ensign," Thrawn said.

Eli blushed for him. He looked positively awkward.

"Though… I am honored to know you would defend my hair, even though it doesn't feel," Thrawn said. Even his thanks were positively, uniquely Thrawn.

Eli smiled. "Yeah. Hair and all the rest of you, too."


	10. Chapter 10

Eli was nearly done packing.

And that was his problem.

As silly and childish as it was, he'd been slow-working the entire time he gathered up his belongings. As though if he took too long at it, Thrawn would change his mind about sending him away. Even if Eli _knew_ Thrawn would never do that. Not once his mind was set.

Eli sighed. Looking around his quarters, starkly vacant of everything he had, Eli knew the time had come.

He was about to board a shuttle and head off to a corner of the universe no human - as far as he knew - had ever been. He'd be going to Thrawn's homeworld, as Thrawn's hand... to help the Chiss defeat a greater evil in Thrawn's place.

And Eli was scared stiff.

It was a stupid thing to get worked up over. He trusted Thrawn, and he would do whatever duty the Chiss entrusted _him_ with. But still… Eli could never be a stand in for Thrawn. Not to mention, Thrawn was all too blunt about his people's own tendencies towards xenophobia.

Eli was fairly certain he wouldn't have his own "Eli" waiting for him, either.

He sighed again - his heart rate was skyrocketing in apprehension and the only way his brain could get the oxygen it needed was to trigger sigh after nervous sigh.

Eli winced, and then tried to hold back a smile.

He was only aware of how much he sighed when he was nervous because Thrawn had pointed it out.

He was really going to miss having him around.

A small change of light and Eli's smile grew.

"I kept you waiting," Eli said. "Sorry."

"There is no need for apologies, Commander," Thrawn said as he stepped into the empty quarters, his voice smooth as always, yet holding a slightly different tone. Amusement? Eli turned.

Thrawn was holding a box.

"Sir…"

Thrawn held up a hand. There was a playful smile on his thin lips.

"I wanted to do something for you that would be appropriate for our temporary parting of ways," Thrawn said. "A gesture truly meaningful for you. I looked into your culture and discovered a very interesting Lysatran tradition."

Eli could feel the heat rising to his cheeks.

 _Of course._ As a culture heavily slanted towards space faring, voyaging - even freighting - Lysatrians had developed a serious tradition of gift giving when family, friends, or especially lovers, parted ways.

"That it is customary to give a gift to one in which you must leave but intend to see again," Thrawn went on. "It took some time to organize an appropriate gift for this occasion. I found a merchant on Lysatra who was willing to work on commission, even using wool from animals raised on Lysatra so you would have a piece of home to take with you."

Eli's chest tightened in appreciation.

He knew what the present had to be - _a sweater._ Eli had been really wanting a sweater. Thrawn had warned Eli that Csilla would be cold. Far colder than anything he'd been comfortable with before. And the amount of times Eli complained about the temperature? It had to be.

Eli's eyes glazed over in a moment, treasuring the thoughtfulness of it all. Eli had sort of abandoned some of those aspects of his homeworld. Or, they were watered down so badly no one could recognize it for what it was - taking a departing colleague out for lunch, for example.

But this! Thrawn went through all that effort… all that research…

Eli numbly took the box from Thrawn's hands, blushing furiously, trying not to think too hard on _I didn't get him anything_ , lifted the lid off the box and-

Eli's blood ran cold.

"It's... " Eli stammered, feeling horrified. "... a doll."

And it was.

It was well made, but that was hardly the point. It was absolutely, positively, no-doubt-about-it a doll. Of _Thrawn_ no less.

"I…"

Eli was at a loss for words. There was no way he was going to show up to _Chiss space_ hoping to be taken seriously as a _stand in for the greatest military commander in the galaxy_ by bringing along with him a handmade woolen doll of the man who'd sent him there.

"I can't-" Eli stammered before he could stop himself.

 _Stupid._

He should have just thanked him and stashed it away somewhere. Now he was going to explain himself.

"I beg your pardon?" Thrawn asked, inclining his head slightly.

Eli winced. _How to do this without hurting his feelings._

"Dolls….umm…" Eli couldn't look Thrawn in the eyes. "Dolls are… well, that's what _parents_ give their children. Young children. Not a gift for… friends."

Thrawn didn't react whatsoever.

"I see," Thrawn said. "Well." He leaned closer, that thin smile growing microscopically. "I appear to have misread the art of your culture. How unfortunate."

Eli scowled a little. It seemed entirely out of character for Thrawn to misread something. He swallowed down a suddenly rising fear to scold himself - _what am I thinking?_ Thrawn had done something utterly unexpected and _kind_ and the only thing Eli could think of was how that gift would embarrass-

"I love it," Eli blurted out. "I'll … keep it with me. Hell, I'll keep him in bed with me. Lysatrans have a reputation for not taking life too seriously."

"Indeed," Thrawn mused. "A trait my people will need for the dark road ahead."

The rest of the night went by too quickly. After a few other customary parting ways rituals, Eli found himself alone on his shuttle, the blue dappled backdrop of hyperspace overtaking his viewport.

 _Well, that's all there is for it. I'm really on my way._

If only he could think of something to do with that doll. Perhaps he could give it to someone. Pass it off as a _it's my tradition to give gifts to those who welcome me into their home._... _No,_ Eli frowned. He couldn't give a gift of something he was too embarrassed to be seen with. _Maybe..._ Thrawn had told him he had a brother. Maybe Thrawn had some nieces or nephews he hadn't mentioned…. Who would love a doll of their uncle?

Eli winced.

 _What would these proud, deadly serious warriors think of me if I showed up with this?_

He left the cockpit to rummage through his things - trying to find the doll with half a mind to throw it out the airlock. And that's when Eli paused. There was a _new_ box. One that he certainly hadn't brought on board. One that had to be sneaked on.

Suddenly panic rose into his mouth like bile.

Thrawn had plenty of enemies. What if someone had seen Eli leaving? Had sabotaged the ship? What if it were a bomb - what if -

The box fell over.

Eli had gotten far too curious and leaned in a little to close, but now… seeing the thing was harmless, he scolded himself for overreacting and picked it up.

There… inside the package… was a beautiful, hand knit maroon sweater.

The corner's of Eli's eyes prickled with awe.

It had to have cost a fortune. The thread was thin, soft, the cable work meticulous and incredibly detailed… there was a nearly majestic way in how the fabric moved as the sweater passed over Eli's hands. And the maroon… a bright, bold color. Regal almost. Something that he'd feel confident in... stand taller wearing. And it was warm. Cozy and soft and warm.

It was everything he could possibly have wanted.

A note was fastened to the packaging.

"I also discovered in my study of your culture that Lysatrans value a well played practical joke. Enjoy your trip."


End file.
